James Morris, AC for Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Tower Hamlets
Girls’ participation in post-16 maths is low; in 2018 the proportion of female A level Mathematics students was 39%. For A level Further Mathematics the figure was 28%, and for Core Maths 43%. Research has suggested that one way to encourage more girls to take maths beyond GCSE is through enrichment. More strategies can be found here.
On 18 December, the AMSP and Queen Mary University of London organised a day aimed at GCSE grade 6/7 girls (although all genders could attend). The day included information about how Core Maths supports other subjects and careers, and about the transition to higher education. There were also a variety of lectures: “The Movement of Crowds” by Dr Aoife Hunt, “Ada Lovelace” by Sue de Pomerai and “Fake News? Examining the data behind the headlines” by Rachel Beddoes.
The day was oversubscribed with a great response from teachers and students to all of the sessions. Student comments included:
- “It was really interesting and engaging”
- “It was very interesting and I saw a different aspect of maths”
- “The history about [Ada Lovelace] inspired me”
- “It made me realise how important it is to compare results given in articles to real ones”
Other enrichment opportunities are planned and schools signed up to our Stay Informed list will be emailed details once these are finalised.